Study: Want Your Relationship To Last? Live Together

The claim: Contrary to the long-held belief that being roomies before being spouses was the kiss of death for a relationship, new research published in the journal Population Research and Policy Review finds that living together before tying the knot could make your relationship last longer.

The research: After identifying trends from biyearly interviews with 2,761 women between the ages of 18 and 46 from 1979 to 2008, researchers concluded that couples who live together for at least four years prior to marriage are 56% more likely to stay together for longer than 12 years. The study focused on couples of various backgrounds and demographics who were entering unions for both the first and second time.

Age seems to play a factor. "As women get older, they are even more likely than younger people to live together before they get married," says study co-author Audrey Light, PhD, professor of economics at Ohio State University. Eighteen-year-old women who cohabit for the first time within four years of the start of their relationship are 22% more likely to hold a relationship for at least 12 years versus those who do not cohabit. For women in their mid-twenties, that probablility increases to 52%, and to 68% for women in their 30s.

Furthermore, women who enter into unions for the second time are 148% more likely to hold a long-term relationship, and the percentage increases with age, says Dr. Light.

The bottom line: "These findings do not imply that cohabitation is 'necessary' for long-term union formation," Dr. Light says. But it does imply that couples who cohabit before marriage are less pressured to focus on the long-term vision of their relationship. In turn, living together may help establish the desire for a long-term union with the certainty that it will last.